Arrangement for providing access to a sealed incubator system

ABSTRACT

A door releasably mounted to a wall forming a part of an enclosure of a chamber of a sealed incubator system. The door is supported on a floor on casters so as to enable the door, in its entirety, to be moved on the floor into and out of a door opening in the wall. The door opening has jambs, and the door has sides and a top. Gaskets mounted to the door sides and the door top bear against the door sides and the door top bears against the door jambs when the door is located in the door opening to seal the sides and the top of the door in the door opening, and permanent magnets embedded in the gaskets are magnetically attracted to the door sides and the door top to releasably retain the door in the door opening. A resilient strip mounted to the bottom of the door bears against the floor to seal the bottom of the door in the door opening. The casters are mounted on brackets that are attached to the door opening. The door and the brackets are assembled by mounting the brackets to the door while the door is propped in the door opening with the sides and the top of the door bearing against the door jambs, and the bottom of the door spaced from the floor in such a manner that the casters are supported on the floor.

United States Patent [191 Cannon 1 Mar. 19, 1974 ARRANGEMENT FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO A SEALED INCUBATOR SYSTEM [76] Inventor: Robert W. Cannon, 6565 Joseph St.

S.E., Saiem,-Oreg. 97301 221 Filed: Ju1y24, 1972. [21 Appl.No.:274,621

[52] US. Cl. 49/463, 49/465, l10/ 173 R 51 I t. Cl. E06b 3/32 [58] Field of Search 49/148, 463, 4 65; 110/173 R, 180; 122/497, 498

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 871,421 1 1/1907 Koppers 110/173 C 1,102,668 7/1914 Jones..l 110/180 1,292,622 1/1919 McIntire 49/148 X 2,584,404 2/1952 Webb 110/173 R 2,959,832 11/1960 Baermann.... 49/478 X 3,039,525 6/1962 Starr 49/488 X 3,341,975 9/1967 Ty1isz.... 49/485 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,204,661 3/1959 France 110/173 R 699,399 11/1953 Great Britain 110/173 R [57] ABSTRACT A door releasably mounted to a wall forming a part of an enclosure of a chamber of a sealed incubator system. The door is supported on a floor on casters so as to enable the' door in its entirety, to be moved on the floor into and out of a door opening in the wall. The door opening has jambs, and the door has sides and a top. Gaskets mounted to the door sides and the door top bear against the door sides and the door top bears against the door jambs when the door is located in the door opening to seal the sides and the top of the door in the door opening, and permanent magnets embedded in the gaskets are magnetically attracted to the door sides and the door top to releasably retain the door in the door opening. A resilient strip mounted to the bottom of the door bears against the floor to seal the bottom of the door in the door opening. The casters are mounted on brackets that are attached to the door opening. The door and the brackets are assembled by mounting the brackets to the door while the door is propped in the door opening with the sides and the top of the door bearing against the door jambs, and the bottom of the door spaced from the floor in such a manner that the casters are supported on the floor. 1

10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 ARRANGEMENT FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO A SEALED INCUBATOR SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Incubator systems are formed of a sealed chamber having a temperature higher than ambient temperatures to which access must be had, from time-to-time, through a door opening in a wall of the chamber. When the door opening is closed by a door, the door must be sealed in the door opening in the wall to prevent heat from escaping from the chamber. Yet, the door should be readily openable and closable so as to provide ready access to the chamber and give maximum access to the chamber when the door is open.

While the prior art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 962,865 and 3,340,650, shows doors that can be removed from and mounted to walls, they are not entirely successful in accomplishing the desired results set forth above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The door of this invention is mounted on transporting means in the form of casters that are supported on the floor so that the door can readily be moved, in its entirety, into and away from the door opening. Sealing means, in the form of gaskets, are interposed between the sides and the top of the door and door jambs in the door opening to seal the sides and top of the door when the door is mounted in the door opening. When the door is in the door opening, it is releasably retained in place by a retaining device in the form of magnets magnetically attracted to brackets. The bottom of the door is sealed, when the door is in the door opening, by a sealing device in the form of a flexible strip of resilient material that extends downwardly from the bottom of the door against the floor.

The arrangement of this invention eliminates costly accessories such as hinges and latches. The door does not take up space that would interfere with access to the chamber when the door is not mounted to the wall since the door is moved, in its entirety, away from the wall on the transporting means.

In accordance with this invention, the door and the transporting means are assembled by locating the door in the door opening so that the sides and the top of the door bear against the door jamb and the bottom of the door is spaced from the floor and propping the door in this position. While the dooris so propped, the transporting meansare mounted to the door in such a manner that. the transporting means are supported on the floor. This mode of assembly ensures that the transporting means new located that the top of the door will properly bear against the door jamb regardless of any deviations in the floor of the particular installation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS;

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the wall, the door and the floor;

FIG. 2 is a sectionalview of cooperative portions of a side door .jamb and a side of the door and-is taken along the two sets of line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of cooperative portions of a top door jamb and the top of the door and is taken along the two sets of line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a portion of the bottom of the door and of one of the transporting means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. ll shows an insulated cabinet wall 10 that forms part of an enclosure for a conventional incubator system located in a chamber that is inward of the wall 10. The wall 10 is mounted to a floor 12 by being bonded thereto. A door opening 16, formed in the wall 10, has a pair of spaced upright side jambs 18 that are spanned at their upper ends by a top jamb 20. The top jamb 20 is substantially parallel to the portion of the floor 12 that spans the space between the bottoms of the side jambs 18, and there is no jamb on the floor between the bottoms of the side jambs 18.

Referring to FIG. 2, each side jamb 18 is formed of a surface 22 that extends inwardly of the exterior surface 24 of the wall 10. The inner end of the surface 22 joins, at a right angle, a surface 26 that extends laterally towards the door opening 16. The surface 24, at the door opening 16, joins a surface 30 that extends inwardly and joins the interior surface 32 of the wall 10. A bracket 34, of magnetic material, is secured to the wall 10 so as to form a part of the surfaces 26 and 30.

Referring to FIG. 3, the jamb 20 is formed of a surface 36 that extends inwardly of the exterior wall surface 24. The inner end of the surface 36 joins, at a right angle, a surface 38 that extends downwardly towards the door opening 16. The surface 38, at the door opening 16, joins a surface 42 that extends inwardly and joins the interior surface 32 of the wall 10. A bracket 44 of magnetic material is secured to the wall 10 so as to form a part of the surfaces 38 and 42.

A door 46 is adapted to be releasably received by the door opening 16. The door 46 is made of the same insulated material as the wall 10 and is formed of a substantially planar bottom 48, spaced sides 50, and a top 52. The door 46 also has an exterior surface 54 (FIGS. 2 and 3) and an interior surface 56. The surfaces 54 and 56 are respectively in substantial registry with the wall surfaces 24 and 32 when the door is releasably mounted to the wall in the manner set forth below. A pair of spaced back caster brackets 58 are secured to the interior surface 56 and a front caster bracket 60 is secured to the exterior surface 54. All of the brackets are located near the bottom of the door, the brackets 58 being near the door ends and the bracket 60 being at the door center. A ball caster 62 is mounted in each of the brackets 58 and 60, the bottoms of the casters extending lower than the plane of the door bottom 48. Each caster is swiveled in its associated bracket and is capable of rotating to thereby enable the casters to act as a transporting means .to enable the door 46 to be readily moved across the floor 12. A handle 63, mounted to the exterior door surface 54, enables the door to be gripped and move along the floor 12. A strip 64 of resilient material, preferably rubber, is secured to the bottom of the interior door surface 56 by a bar 66 that is screwed to the surface 56 by screws 68. The strip 64 extends the entire width of the interior surface 56 and is bowed downwardly and away from the door bottom 48 and the interior door surface 56 so as to yieldably bear against the floor 12 while the door is being supported by the casters 62.

As shown in FIG. 2, each door side 50 is generally complemental to each side jamb 18 and is formed of a surface 70 that extends outwardly of the door interior surface 56, a surface 72 that extends laterally away from the surface 70, and a surface 74 that extends outwardly of the surface 72 to the door exterior surface 54. A flange 76, mounted to the exterior surface 54, extends away from the surface 74. Flexible gaskets 78, mounted to the surface 72, have permanent magnets 80 embedded therein.

As shown in FIG. 3, the door top 52 is generally complemental to the top jamb 20 and is formed of a surface 82 that extends outwardly of the door interior surface 56, a surface 84 that extends upwardly of the surface 82, and a surface 86 that extends outwardly of the surface 84 to the door exterior surface 54. A flange 88, mounted to the exterior surface 54, extends upwardly of the surface 86. Additional gaskets 78, with the permanent magnets 80 embedded therein, are mounted to the surface 84.

The door opening 16 and the door 46 are so dimensioned that the door may be mounted in the door opening in such a manner that the surfaces 42, 38 and 36 of the top jamb 20 are respectively proximate to their complemental surfaces 82, 84 and 86 on the door top 52, and the surfaces 30, 26 and 22 of each side jamb 18 are respectively proximate their complemental surfaces 70, 72 and 74, of their associated door side 50. When the door is so mounted, the attraction of the magnets 80 to the brackets 34 and 44 retains the door in mounted position in the door opening with the gaskets 78 bearing against the surfaces 26 and 38 to seal the sides and the top of the door. The heights of the door opening and the door are such that, when the door is mounted in the door opening as set forth in the preceding sentence without the caster brackets 58 and 60 mounted to the door, the bottom 48 of the door is a short distance (for example, one inch) from the floor 12.

In assembling the door, the door, minus the caster brackets, is mounted to the door opening in the position set forth in the preceding paragraph and is held propped in this position. While the door is in this position, the caster brackets 58 and 60 are placed against the door with the casters 62 resting on and supported by the floor 12, and the casters are then secured to the door. This mode of assembling the casters to the door ensures that the door will effectively seal the door opening when the door is moved into the door opening, as set forth below, regardless of any small deviations in the vertical distance between the top door jamb 20 and that portion of the floor extending between the side door jambs 18 that are caused by the floor not being level.

The chamber located inwardly of the wall is part of an incubator system wherein specimens, such as eggs, being incubated, are maintained at a desired temperature above ambient temperatures. The incubator system, as is conventional, creates a static pressure that is somewhat above atmospheric pressure.

When the door is fitted into the door opening, the sides 50 and the top 52 of the door are respectively held to the side jambs 18 and the top jambs by the magnets 80 and the gaskets 78 are bearing against the surfaces 26 and 38 in the manner set forth above to thus retain the door in the door opening and seal the sides and the top of the door opening. This seal is augmented by the flanges 76 and 88 which respectively bear against the wall exterior surface 24 adjacent the surfaces 22 and 36. The bottom of the door opening is sealed by the resilient strip 64 bearing against the floor 12 on the inside of the door. The static pressure in the chamber acts to hold the strip against the floor.

When access is needed into the chamber, it is merely necessary to pull on the handle 63 to move the door 46 away from the door opening 16 on the casters 62. This gives complete access to the chamber since the door is moved completely out of the way of the door opening.

. When the door opening 16 is to be closed again, the

door 46 is rolled into the door opening on the casters 62 and fitted into the door opening as described above. With the door in closed position, one cannot be locked in the chamber since it is only necessary to push on the door to move it out of the door opening and thus gain egress from the chamber.

I claim:

1. An arrangement for providing access to a sealed incubator systemcomprising: a wall, adapted to enclose a chamber of said system, extending upwardly of a floor; an opening in said wall formed of a pair of spaced side jambs extending upwardly of the floor and a top joint spanning the upper ends of the side jambs; a door, removably mounted in said opening, having a pair of spaced sides located proximate to said side jambs and a top located proximate to said top jamb; first sealing means interposed between the side jambs and the door sides and between the top jamb and the door top to seal the sides and the top of the door opening; releasable retaining means interposed between the door and the door opening for releasably retaining the door in the opening; transporting means mounted to the door and extending downwardly of the door bottom to the floor for supporting the door on the floor and for enabling the door in its entirety to be moved into and out of the door opening, the transporting means comprising means for supporting the door disposed such that the door may be moved laterally to fit in the opening, the transporting means being positioned with respect to the door such that when the door is mounted in the door opening the transporting means is supported by the floor; and second sealing means mounted to the door and extending downwardly of the door bottom to the floor to seal the bottom of the door opening.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the side and the top jambs and the door sides and tops have surfaces that are complemental and proximate to each other and wherein said first sealing means is mounted to one of said surfaces and bears against the other of said surfaces.

3. The arrangement of claim 2 wherein said first sealing means is mounted to a surface on each of the door sides and the door top.

4. The arrangement of claim 2 wherein at least one magnet is embedded in said first sealing means and said other of said surfaces is made of a magnetic material, said magnet and said magnetic material constituting said releasable retaining means.

5. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein said first sealing means is mounted to a surface on each of the door sides and the door top,

6. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said door has an interior surface and an exterior surface and wherein said transporting means comprises: at least three brackets mounted to said surfaces with at least two of said brackets mounted to one of said surfaces and the remainder of said brackets mounted to the other of said surfaces; and a caster mounted to and depending from each bracket.

9. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said second sealing means comprises a resilient strip depending from the door against the floor.

10. The arrangement of claim 9 wherein the door has an interior surface and wherein the resilient strip is mounted to the interior surface and is bowed downwardly and away from the interior surface whereby static pressure in said chamber holds the strip against the floor. 

1. An arrangement for providing access to a sealed incubator system comprising: a wall, adapted to enclose a chamber of said system, extending upwardly of a floor; an opening in said wall formed of a pair of spaced side jambs extending upwardly of the floor and a top joint spanning the upper ends of the side jambs; a door, removably mounted in said opening, having a pair of spaced sides located proximate to said side jambs and a top located proximate to said top jamb; first sealing means interposed between the side jambs and the door sides and between the top jamb and the door top to seal the sides and the top of the door opening; releasable retaining means interposed between the door and the door opening for releasably retaining the door in the opening; transporting means mounted to the door and extending downwardly of the door bottom to the floor for supporting the door on the floor and for enabling the door in its entirety to be moved into and out of the door opening, the transporting means comprising means for supporting the door disposed such that the door may be moved laterally to fit in the opening, the transporting means being positioned with respect to the door such that when the door is mounted in the door opening the transporting means is supported by the floor; and second sealing means mounted to the door and extending downwardly of the door bottom to the floor to seal the bottom of the door opening.
 2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the side and the top jambs and the door sides and tops have surfaces that are complemental and proximate to each other and wherein said first sealing means is mounted to one of said surfaces and bears against the other of said surfaces.
 3. The arrangement of claim 2 wherein said first sealing means is mounted to a surface on each of the door sides and the door top.
 4. The arrangement of claim 2 wherein at least one magnet is embedded in said first sealing means and said other of said surfaces is made of a magnetic material, said magnet and said magnetic material constituting said releasable retaining means.
 5. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein said first sealing means is mounted to a surface on each of the door sides and the door top.
 6. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said door has an interior surface and an exterior surface and wherein said transporting means comprises: at least three brackets mounted to said surfaces with at least two of said brackets mounted to one of said surfaces and the remainder of said brackets mounted to the other of said surfaces; and a caster mounted to and depending from each bracket.
 7. The arrangement of claim 6 wherein said second sealing means comprises: a resilient strip mounted to one of said surfaces and depending therefrom against the floor, said strip being located closer to the surface on which it is mounted than the caster that is mounted on that surface.
 8. The arrangement of claim 7 wherein the resilient strip is mounted to the interior surface and is bowed downwardly and away from the interior surface whereby static pressure in said chamber holds the strip against the floor.
 9. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said second sealing means comprises a resilient strip depending from the door against the floor.
 10. The arrangement of claim 9 wherein the door has an interior surface and wherein the resilient strip is mounted to the interior surface and is bowed downwardly and away from the interior surface whereby static pressure in said chamber holds the strip against the floor. 